BSNL lowers mobile tariffs to 50 paise for local, STD, SMS

CHENNAI: Initiating another round of tariff war, state-run BSNL on Sunday announced a new plan offering local and STD call at just 50 paise a

minute across all the network, while the charges would be 20 and 30 paise for BSNL to BSNL.

BSNL's new tariff plan "India
Golden Fifty", offering local and STD call at just 50 paise would be available from March 1. and the scheme, along with BSNL's 3G mobile services in the state, was launched by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi.

BSNL Chairman Kuldeep Goyal told reporters that the Golden Fifty plan would be available to consumers for a monthly rent of Rs 375 inclusive of taxes.

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India makes it to the global 3G map

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh put the country on the global 3G map on Thursday when he launched the services on state-owned Mahanagar
Telephone Nigam’s (MTNL) networks in Delhi.

The 3G platform will enable telcos to offer high-end services such as high-speed internet, video conferencing on mobiles, interactive gaming, ultra fast downloads of video and music clips amongst other services. The PM also witnessed for sometime a live telecast of the India-England Test match on a mobile handset using 3G services.

MTNL also became the first teleco in India to launch these high-end services which it has christened ‘Jadoo’. But the commercial launch of 3G will happen in January ’09. MTNL executives present in the event said the PM had only kicked off the ‘soft launch’ and that some parts of central Delhi would have free access to these services during the test phase.

MTNL does not want to charge for these services during the soft launch phase as it wants customers to first experience 3G services. “We will also launch 3G in Mumbai by the end-of January,” MTNL CMD RSP Sinha told ET. MTNL offers mobile services
in Delhi and Mumbai. Mr Sinha said that MTNL was yet to take a call on the 3G tariffs. “It depends on the amount of data usage. Our 3G pricing cannot be different from existing prices across the world. The pricing will be affordable, sustainable and likeable to all,” he said. The company will invest Rs 400 crore to set up 3G networks across Delhi and Mumbai and hoping to add 200,000 subscribers on this platform.

State-owned BSNL will do a soft launch of its 3G services by the end of December, its CMD Kuldeep Goyal told ET. All other telecom companies will have to wait a lot longer for launching these high-end services. This is because, auction for the radio frequencies on which 3G services work is slated to take place in early 2009.

“After the auction, the government will have to give us spectrum. We will take six months from the date of allotment of spectrum to launch 3G services. Bharti hopes to launch commercial 3G services by 2009-end,” Manoj Kohli, CEO and Joint MD, Bharti Airtel said. The government had given 3G radio frequencies to both MTNL and BSNL ahead of the auctions.

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Idea Cellular ties up with HTC Corp to launch touch phones

MUMBAI: Idea Cellular, a leading mobile service operator has entered into a tie up with Taiwan's handset manufacturer HTC Corp to offer two touch
phone models in India targetted at the premium segment.

Pradeep Shrivastava , chief marketing officer of Idea Cellular said at a press conference on Tuesday the market for premium segment in the country is estimated to be about 15 per cent of the overall market size.

He also said the ongoing recessionary trend may not affect the demand for these types of phones though customers may tend to be a little cautious before shifting to the new products.

The two Taiwan made models called HTC Touch Pro and HTC Touch Viva based on Windows mobile platform offer elegant touch screen experience .

HTC Touch Pro is priced at Rs 34,900 while HTC Viva will sell at Rs 16,490 at all HTC resellers across the country.

"The tie up between the two companies is not exclusive and there is no financial arrangement between them," Shrivastava said. Customers of other mobile service operator also could opt to buy these models .

"The two models embody our commitment to build a family of touch phones that are powerful, stylish and offer something for everyone", Jack Tong, Vice President, HTC Asia said.

HTC ,one of the fastest growing companies in mobile sector globally , earlier used to make handset for others but started marketing under HTC brand since 2006.

It has many firsts to its credit like being the first to offer microsoft 3g phone, microsoft powered smartphone and last year the touch screen model which allows finger tip navigation.

Source : Economic Times

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Tatas mull mobile handset foray with DoCoMo

MUMBAI: The Tatas, who stopped making fixed telephone instruments under the Tata Fone brand some years ago, plan a re-entry into the business by
calling-time.jpg
developing mobile handsets. Tatas will consider the feasibility of the project in collaboration with its new Japanese partner NTT DoCoMo, which has strong expertise in handset development besides managing next generation technologies.

DoCoMo has an extensive lineup of lifestyle-focused handsets tailored for varying customer needs and preferences like waterproof models, kids' models with GPS tracking and handsets with wellness applications
to monitor health and fitness.

DoCoMo has struck a strategic alliance with Tata Teleservices, including buying a 26% stake in Tata Tele. The co-operation between the two wireless carriers is being extended across marketing, handset development and technical support services.

" We will leverage DoCo-Mo's handset designing capabilities and work closely to bring out both high- and lowend models for our customers,'' said a Tata Tele executive. NTT DoCoMo president and CEO Ryuji Yamada said, ‘‘ The company is establishing a task force comprising its directors and technology experts to work on different areas with our Indian partner.''

Another Tata Tele official said, ‘‘ Given that the alliance has just been formed the business model would evolve over a period of time.'' Currently Tata group company DriveIndia .com procures and sells CDMA handsets from manufacturers like Samsung, Nokia, Huawei and Haeir. Tata Tele focuses only on providing mobile services, while group firm Tata Business Support Services handles customer queries and interactions for Tata Indicom and Virgin mobile. ‘‘ With DoCo-Mo as partner, the branding architecture could change,'' said the Tata official.

Source : Economic Times

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Govt may bar mobiles without identity code

NEW DELHI: Mobile phones which do not have a unique identity number may soon go out of circulation. The Department of Telecom (DoT) is planning to block cellphones which do not bear the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number.

Many handsets assembled locally or imported from China do not have IMEI numbers. The DoT has also proposed a bar on all mobile phones with IMEI numbers bearing all zeroes or no zeroes. IMEI numbers can be checked by dialing "*#06#" in any keypad.

Investigations into the recent serial blasts revealed that mobile phones used by terrorists did not bear valid IMEI numbers. If they had valid numbers, the phones could have been tracked from their origin to the point of purchase.

It is estimated that there about 1.6 crore handsets in India which do not have valid IMEI numbers, which is a unique 14-digit number used to identify valid devices. If the DoT move goes through, mobile operators will snap services to these phones.

Chinese handsets account for about 13.3%, or Rs 4,000 crore, of India’s total mobile market, which is about Rs 30,000 crore a year.

Every month, about 16.8 lakh Chinese and locally-assembled handsets are sold in India. A GPRS-enabled Chinese handset costs about Rs 3,500, against at least Rs 5,000 for a similar branded phone.


According to Indian Cellular Association (ICA) president Pankaj Mohindroo, at least one crore users will be affected if the calls are barred. Many local dealers circumvent the limitation by offering to change the IMEI number if it is all zeroes, or add a zero if it doesn’t have one. Change of IMEI is not legal in India, unlike in the US and the UK.

Enterprising customers can also change the IMEI number with free software available on the web. The DoT note does not address these issues.

Many sellers of stolen handsets too attempt to change the IMEI numbers. This is done to ensure that a telecom operator is unable to lock the phone and the SIM card once the original owner reports the theft.

Mobile operators usually store IMEI numbers of stolen mobiles in an Equipment Identity Register. Changing the number ensures that the stolen mobile can continue to be in circulation.

Branded mobile phone makers have welcomed the DoT move. Said Nokia’s director for corporate affairs Ambrish Bakaya, “It will definitely have a negative impact on the Chinese phone market. It will encourage people to shift to branded handsets. It’s a very positive step for us and I am sure DoT will take care of the loopholes.” ICA said it is working on a solution that can take care of the loophole and identify fake IMEI numbers.

“From the national security point of view, it is a crucial step and it will also discourage consumers from using handsets with illegal IMEI numbers,” said Samsung Mobile Businesses country head Sunil Dutt. All users would do well to check if they have a valid IMEI number.

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BSNL gears up for global 3G, prepaid and GPRS roaming

NEW DELHI: Ahead of its 3G services launch, state-run BSNL is getting ready to offer international roaming facility to its subscribers for prepaid
, GPRS and 3G services.

Presently, international roaming facility for BSNL subscribers consists of having a triple solution in SIM Cards for postpaid users.

One solution is for the home network, other for international roaming through 'Direct International Roaming Agreements' with foreign operators and the third by piggy- backing on an existing international roaming service provider hub.

A senior BSNL official said, as of now BSNL has signed GSM international roaming agreements for 339 networks in 170 countries, out of which 164 networks in 94 countries have been commercially launched for postpaid customers only.

Connectivity has been established with a leading global GRX service provider for GPRS international roaming services. Testing with each of the operators is required for launching the GPRS international roaming services.

Prepaid and 3G international roaming services are in the process of being launched in the BSNL network and accordingly the testing and launching of these services would also be involved, he said.

The direct agreements of BSNL involves only one set of testing for whole of BSNL with the foreign operators for postpaid services. For GPRS, Prepaid and 3G services testing would involve the four zones of BSNL. All the testing would be carried out from BSNL's Kolkata office.

BSNL has invited proposals from companies for carrying out testing in regard to international roaming service with the foreign GSM mobile operators and subsequent commercial launch of the service.


Source : Economic Times

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Ping launches mobile for Rs 499

CHANDIGARH: HFCL Infotel Limited on Monday announced the launch of colored handsets of its Ping brand of mobile at a rate of Rs 499 in the Punjab
market, aiming to penetrate urban, semi-urban and rural markets.

"Our aim is to make telephony available to people in all walks of life," said G. D. Singh, COO, HFCL Infotel Ltd in a statement issued here on Monday.

The Rs 499 handset comes bundled with a predefined activated mobile number which can be recharged with special tariff packs for Rs. 151, Rs. 201 or Rs. 251. The local call rate of one paisa per second and STD at Rs 1.50 per minute shall be available on these plans. The subscriber can also enjoy the validity of 30 days and STD call rate of rupee one per minute on the minimum recharge coupon of Rs. 33.

Ping, a CDMA mobile service, has achieved a total customer base of 2.5 lakh within a year of launch, he said.
Pings mobile services are available across 270 towns and 2050 villages in Punjab and Chandigarh through a distribution network of 8000 retail outlets.


Source : Economic Times

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